Pray for Iowa National Guard Members Killed or Injured Last Weekend

by Bishop William Joensen | December 15, 2025

God’s people in the Diocese of Des Moines prayerfully lift up the families of our fellow Iowans whose loved ones in the Iowa National Guard were killed or injured while serving our country in Syria last weekend. One of the families, the Torres Tovar family of Our Lady of the Americas Parish in Des Moines, is mourning the loss of their beloved son, Edgar, a graduate of Holy Family Catholic School in Des Moines and Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines. May our military families, who make tremendous sacrifices, and all those suffering from violence, find spiritual comfort in God’s mercy and love.

As we anticipate the birth of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, we are firm in faith that death has no hold over him or over those who place their trust in his saving power. Inspired with this confidence, we believe that his family and friends and all who mourn Edgar’s passing will see him again in everlasting light.

Mary, Our Lady of the Americas and Queen of Peace, pray for us.

Bishop William Joensen

Born in 1960, Bishop Joensen completed studies at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Ohio and was ordained a priest in 1989. He earned a doctorate in philosophy at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. in 2001. He has served in parishes, as spiritual director at St. Pius X Seminary in Dubuque and in a variety of roles at Loras College in Dubuque.